Thanks Adin. You're the best See, robots do have a heart

Sweet, can't wait to see the rest. I've thought about doing an led setup on either my 12g nc or on my 29g tank. More than likely it would be done on the 29g. It would be a slow project but I could probably cnc a sweet heatsink/fixture for free in class.

Any thoughts on how many leds I'd be looking at for a 30" long tank 18" and about equivalent to 150W of MH?

Probably something like 36 LEDs (13, 12, 13 2" spacing) with 60 degree optics.

Are there any drivers on dealextreme you'd recommend? I don't need dimmable, and I'd prefer if I could just order everything from there - shipping to Iceland is expensive, and I'm not even sure ledsupply and other retailers ship to here.

Preferably I'd want a driver that can run more than just one led, but anything will go, as long as it's cost effective


Edit:
My first post on nano-reef in 6 years

Wow, a really old-timer

There are some, but it depends on the size of the array. Most of them are either for 1-3 LEDs, or 10 or more. There aren't any as flexible as the Buckpucks. Once you get the array somewhat sorted out, we can pick out a driver that will work.

Do you by chance know about how much the leds for your future group buy would be. Trying to crunch some numbers.

3 LEDs at 700-1000mA would actually be pretty good, then I can have some control over brightness by just turning individual modules on and off.

"10 or more" would be quite sufficient for my whole tank, so if it's cost effective that's a really good option, too.

I'm planning to order about 10-20 LEDs to start off with soon, and if I like the light, I will probably build an even bigger array.

If your looking into how bright the tank is you should consider the dimmable drivers. It would be more cost effective than multiple drivers and you would be able to get the color you want from the lights.

evil, you recommended stranded wire over solid core. Why? flexibility & ease of soldering?

Ok. So what's the area of coverage for this array? Also..... There are 9 LEDs above... 4 Q5s 4 royal blues 1 UV. What's the tenth LED? (Really curious)

It will depend on how many I need to purchase, but worst case is about $8, and best is around $6 plus shipping.



This driver was originally found on Deal Extreme, but they never have stock. I just got confirmation that mine shipped from here after backordered for a month.

http://www.bestofferbuy.com/700ma-40v68v-c...put-p-7626.html

Flexibility more than anything.



I goofed, should be 5 royal blues.

The coverage will depend on the spacing. With the array I tested with, the coverage was about 12x9, but the spacing was a little tighter in some respects than I would use in a larger setup.

on second thought, 40-68 LEDs seems a tad excessive... Any 1-5 LED drivers that would fit my description?

Thats 40v-68v. 11-18 LEDs.

OMG.....

WIll this driver dim the leds? Also, i'm down for a group buy on leds.

300th post

Not stock. I bought one to see if it could be dimmed. Didn't think it would take so long to get here though.

Is it easy to mod so I can dim it?

Don't know yet. I'll let you know when I do. It will probably show up next week when I'm out of town for training.

Great job so far evil... 1 question though. You mentioned in the optics section:

"Based on recent test, I have found that 60 degree optics have the ability to reach 150W MH levels when LEDs are run at 1000mA. 40 degree optics can reach 250W levels. These tests were performed with Cree XR-E LEDs and optics."

Approximately to what depth would 60 degree and 40 degree optics be able to hold these values to for the folks with deeper aquariums?

Same as a 150W (60 degree) or 250W (40 degree) MH setup.

Do you think if I run my Royal Blues at 700mA, since I want them on the same series as the UV, I will lose a lot of performance out of them? Should I just get 1000mA pucks and then hook my UVs up to the 700mA puck by themselves?

Royal blues don't gain as much from the extra current as cool white do. You won't lose any significant performance running them at 700mA

Hi evilc66,

If i run 21x white LEDs for my 22" depth tank on below 3 setup, what will be the output similar to ? 150W ?

** Asume all LEDs are equally 2" apart.

1st setup : 700mA on 40 degree len.

2nd setup: 700mA on 60 degree len.

3rd setup : 1000mA on 60 degree len.

Thanks.

1. Typical to a spider reflector 250W (might want to tighten up the spacing a little for this one)

2. Typical to a low-ish PAR 150W (i.e. not a Phoenix)

3. Typical to a Phoenix 150W with a good reflector.


For a 22" deep tank, going with a 250W type setup would be better, unless you want to reserve the bottom of the tank to low light corals.

Thanks bro...You are really fast !

Btw, I think of setting up a LED array of 11 white on 40 degree and 10 Royal blue on 60 degree.

I'm expecting 250W and hopefully can replace my current 150MH with 2X24W T5HO .

What do you think about the below setup?

W RB W RB W RB W
RB W RB W RB W RB
W RB W RB W RB W

If you want 250W levels, you are going to want to go with 40 degree optics on all LEDs. Alternating them will make the PAR levels a little spotty, especially higher up in the tank.

A suggestion would be to drop/add one LED in the middle row. It will allow you to set the middle row LEDs in between the front and rear to blend the colors a little better.

Could you make a nice LED setup with a 12" current dual satellite 36w light fixture?

I offered retros for them on the last group buy.

Were there any takers? I would get in line for one. How much will it cost? I have a budget of around $225.

$190 for the retro. I will be doing another group buy hopefully in March, so keep your eyes peeled.

Any ideas for a BC29 hood? I want to be able to keep ANYTHING... Looking into gutting the whole hood and upgrading the fans and such...

If there was a retro for the JBJ 28 I would be in line..

all BOW to the LED GAWD evilc66!

Excellent write up!

OK, I must not be looking in the correct places.

Where do you buy the wider optics for Cree? So far the widest I have found is 25 degree, but there have to be more out there. Best I can figure is that I am searching for the wrong thing.

Also, in case I cannot find the info I need once I find the optics, anybody know how tall they are?

thx

Both are possible, and both I believe have been done already. Sps can easily be done with 60 degree optics to make an equivalent to a 150W MH.



http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut680

Evil,

I want to try and put together an all LED set up over my 100g frag system.
Dimensions are 60" L x 20" T x 18" W.
How many and what type LEDS would I need to construct an LED set up equivalent to 2x250 watt MH ?
If you could point me to a source for the guts I have a hood I would love to use. Its got azz loads of room in the top for heat exchange, and two big azz fan ports on either side. Its the one I am using now with my 2x250 w DE's and 2 x 96 PC. Its about the size of a 60" Hamiton hood.

Let me see what I can come up with.

I'd like to share...

I'll be getting PAR readings this week.

This isn't for a nano but it goes with the topic.

THATS what I am talking about !

I require photos of you're contraption so I may steal your design and copy it to the fullest of my ability please.

Thanks. I'll be posting a full instruction sheet on RC this week. I can post it here as well if its ok.

Soundwave, what is ur Screen name on RC? and when will you post the full instruction sheet?

Would love any instruction sheet and parts list, as well as purchase sources if possible!!! Why is it that RC kills threads that link to here???

+1 to that
i have a 90 gallon I would love to Adapat tis to Want to run the same a s two 250 watt halides for this beasty.
Any and all advice accepted on how to set that up?

Nice one. Totally post details on this.

Prop, a setup like that would be pretty close to what you would need, but I would suggest covering the entire length of the tank instead of dividing it. This was one of the main things people complained about with the Solaris. Also, you would need optics to get the performance levels you want.

Sweet.
Now I need to figure up the cost break down for the parts.
( Will I faint ? )

In this setup, I am going without optics. I may change that in the future but for now, this is good. Most of the parts can be had at ledsupply.com. I have the par meter in hand and will be testing the blues alone tonight. The power supply blew for the whites and I have new ones on the way. I'll post further in the short future.

how do you drive that thing? with a bunch of buckpucks?

Yea man! I second that! What size tank is that going on?

The entire unit is driven with two power supplies that are hooked up to 8 individual buckpucks. The pucks are 1000mA on the white and 700mA on the blue.

Cost to build is about 600 give or take. I made many pre-prototypes and screwed stuff up along the way.

I am running two 24V 6.5a power supplies that I'm waiting on from the UPS guy. The power supplies that I am doing away with were those cheap crap things from dealextreme.com that supposedly put out 24V 4a. It couldn't handle the draw from the whites. Well, it did for two hours, then shot craps.

My first PAR readings are in... I tested only the blues only on one side, out of a tank, no water. I got 145 from 12" down and 60 at 24". Again, this was only the blues running at 700mA. I hope to have the new power supplies when I return from a business trip this week.